


What Have You Done

by Burgie



Series: JackxYdris AU [5]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M, but oh the angst, warning for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-06 23:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15206294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: A mission with the Soul RIders (and Justin) brings Jack's world crashing down around him. Jack belongs to uglytwinkboi.





	What Have You Done

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UglyJackal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UglyJackal/gifts).



The day started like any other. Jack awoke inside of his wizard's wagon, pressed up against the warm, bare back of the wizard who'd gotten him completely under his spell without even trying. Waking to the smell of herbs and magic was something that Jack had gladly gotten used to. Sure, it might not be the earthiness of hay or a stable, but there was a certain spiciness that Jack loved. A tingle that could only come from magic.

"Good morning," said Ydris softly, feeling Jack stirring behind him. Jack yawned, snuggling closer to him and closing his eyes against the sunlight that was filtering in around the purple curtain.

"S'not morning yet," Jack mumbled, pressing his face into Ydris' shoulderblades. "Not awake enough yet. Lemme sleep in."

"I would love to, my precious blue boy, but alas, that is currently not possible," said Ydris. He moved away from Jack, taking the pleasant warmth with him, and Jack groaned and instead tried to cuddle the pillow instead.

"And why the fuck not?" asked Jack. "You're always up for cuddling."

"I believe that you are confusing me with yourself," said Ydris with a laugh. Jack rolled his eyes, knowing that his fiance was right.

"Yeah, yeah," said Jack. "You didn't tell me why, though."

"That, my dear, is a secret," said Ydris. "And I am afraid that I cannot share it with you." Though Ydris tried to keep his tone light, Jack still felt cold at his words. Ydris was allowed to have his secrets, yes, but... lately, some of Jack's friends had been planting the seeds of doubt in his mind. Sometimes, Ydris just said things that didn't make sense, or that could be taken out of context to mean something else. Something more sinister. It made Jack wish that his fiance could just be normal, then he wouldn't have to worry about all this magical shit.

"It's alright, I get it," said Jack gruffly as he sat up in bed and pushed the blankets away. He got out of bed, letting his irritation show as he pulled open drawers too roughly and grabbed out clothes without really looking.

"Jack," said Ydris, such sadness in his eyes. Jack didn't let it affect him, though.

"No, it's fine," said Jack. "Don't tell me. It's none of my business, is it?"

"Exactly," said Ydris, nodding. "This doesn't involve you at all. Now, you just go and enjoy your day."

"I'll try to," said Jack. "Not like I've got any horses to train, so I might just head into Greendale and see if I can find any squirrels to befriend."

"Please don't bring another wild animal home," said Ydris. Jack laughed.

"No promises," said Jack, pulling his boots on before he headed out the front door.

Just as he'd said, Jack fetched Dale from the big top, where he'd been curiously investigating a small tent that still needed assembling, and rode across the bridge to the Harvest Counties. He went slowly, though, knowing that there was no need to rush. Sure, he wanted to see the squirrels, but he'd have plenty of time to do that. All day, if Ydris needed that much time.

Jack stopped in Jarlaheim first, though, braving the busy city to buy himself some breakfast. Just a bacon and egg roll, nothing fancy. He knew that the two closer food places wouldn't have anything safe for human consumption. He sat on the pier to eat, frowning and trying to shoo away the harbour cat who wanted in on his breakfast. Halli hopped out of Jack's saddlebag and scared the cat away, growling and snapping at it. Jack laughed.

"Get it, Halli," said Jack, chuckling as he continued to munch on his breakfast. He grabbed a bottle of water, too, downing his meds before he headed off to the place that called to his heart. Dale seemed eager to get there, too, trotting just a little faster along the cobbled road. Jack grinned, feeling the wind ruffle his blue hair slightly. Halli bounded along beside him, yapping happily and snapping at any butterflies that flew too close. She even ran at a bird that landed on the road in front of them.

Once they reached the shade of the forest, though, Jack whistled.

"C'mon, Halli, get back in the bag," said Jack. "I know you hate it, but you're gonna scare away the squirrels like you did last time." Halli whined, looking back at him with her ears and tail down. "I know you probably didn't mean it, but the squirrels are prey animals, they're gonna be scared of a fox." Halli huffed and bounded back over to Jack, leaping up into the saddlebag once Jack stopped Dale to allow her to do so. "Good girl." Jack gave his fox a friendly pet on the head, reminding her that she was loved. Now, all that was left was to enjoy the day, as Ydris had said.

It didn't take Jack very long to find some squirrels. Maybe it was his natural animal magnetism, maybe it was just that he knew these woods like the back of his hand, or maybe the animals had started to listen to his wants. Whatever the reason, Jack soon spotted some small brown shapes appearing from the treetops, scampering down the bark and then over to him.

"Hey there," said Jack, holding out a palm full of seeds that he knew the squirrels liked. He'd started buying it with the money left over after caring for his many horses, and it had greatly enhanced (and increased) his interactions with the animals of Jorvik. Doreen, a local girl from the Harvest Counties who was completely nutty about squirrels, was looking into stocking the seed herself. It made sense, too- she sold squirrels as pets, so she should sell the food for them too.

It was as Jack was feeding the squirrels that he received a text message. The buzzing sound startled the squirrels, who looked up and then scampered away. Jack sighed, rolling his eyes as he took his phone out of his pocket. He should really start turning that thing off when he came here to visit the squirrels. But he immediately stopped worrying about the squirrels when he saw who the message was from. Elizabeth.

"Shit, Halli, I've gotta go," said Jack, putting his phone back in his pocket after reading the message and replying that he was on his way. Halli looked up sleepily, and Jack hoped to god that his fox wasn't pregnant again. The kits were cute, sure, but he'd almost worried himself into an early grave last time.

Mounting Dale again, Jack quickly rode for Valedale, passing the circus tent which was once again buzzing with activity, mostly girls. There were a lot of Bobcatz there for some reason, maybe they'd also succumbed to the Ydris Thirst that had gripped the nation. But he paid it no mind, knowing that his fiance had eyes only for him.

"Elizabeth, I came as fast as I could, what's up?" said Jack, riding to a stop at Elizabeth's cottage.

"Well, it's nothing too serious," said Elizabeth. "Alex is just feeling a little down, and I thought that maybe you could talk to her. She's in Dino Valley gathering some ingredients, you'll find her along the path near the Valley of Frozen Mist."

"Mental health is serious, Elizabeth," said Jack, turning Dale up the path and heading up towards Dino Valley. Fortunately, he knew where this Frozen Mist place was, having been shown it when Louisa had been helping him with the archaeology. Dale shivered in the freezing cold, though, and Jack pulled his jacket tighter around him, wishing that Elizabeth had been thoughtful enough to tell him where he'd be headed in her text. He would've brought a cold-tolerant horse, for one thing.

Jack rode along the icy path, hoping that neither he nor Dale would freeze to death, and eventually spotted a distinctive golden horse. He pulled Dale to a stop and dismounted, walking over to the girl who was shivering and looking vaguely blue as she grabbed at Icenthistles.

"Hey, Alex," said Jack, catching her attention. Alex turned to look at him, shoving her hands into her armpits.

"Hey, Jack," said Alex. "Long time, huh?"

"I'll say," said Jack. "Is this your punishment or something?"

"It could be worse," said Alex, shrugging. "I could be exiled here. But even though I fucked up massively, the druids want to keep me on. I guess they can't find another lightning Soul Rider. You could be it, though. But you're not a girl."

"Yeah, I think I'll leave the whole saving the world business to you," said Jack. "You're good at it."

"No I'm not," said Alex, shaking her head with a bitter smile. "You're the world saver here."

"Listen, I'm probably the last person to be giving a pep talk, but you can't be so down on yourself," said Jack. "You've done so much for us, for everyone, for the druids."

"Name one," said Alex, looking steadily at him.

"Silverglade Village," said Jack. "The Shadow Seekers and Pandoric rifts and all that shit."

"I only hit a few Shadow Seekers," said Alex. "I didn't save the village, I didn't close the rifts, that was you."

"Saving Justin," said Jack. Alex snorted.

"You again," said Alex. "I only held back some of the goons, you did all the rescuing. You and your first horse that I've never seen you on. You're the real hero here, maybe I should just pack up and go home."

"And just leave Anne to die?" asked Jack. Alex shook her head.

"She deserves better," said Alex. "She deserves someone who can rescue her. Not someone who can't even save a stableboy."

"Look, even if you don't believe in yourself, I believe in you," said Jack. "Tin Can has no other rider, he's destined to be with you."

"Yeah, he's stuck with me," said Alex.

"No! That's not what I meant at all!" said Jack, tugging at his hair in frustration. "God, is this what it's like when I have one of my depressive episodes?"

"And look at me, being down on myself when you actually have depression," said Alex. Jack groaned.

"Stop fucking pitying yourself and get out there and find her!" said Jack. "I'm sorry, I know I should be nicer to someone who's obviously going through a lot, you had the fate of the world thrust upon you when you were in high school, but you can mope when lives aren't on the line." A friend had told him something similar once.

"That takes me back," said Alex. "Growing up, I always succeeded out of spite. They said I couldn't fix an engine? I spent hours studying the manual and fiddling with the engine until my fingers bled, and I got the thing going. Finding a horse can't be that hard."

"Now you're getting it," said Jack. "Now let's get the fuck out of here and go find that horse."

"Yeah," said Alex, nodding, a look of determination replacing the sad look that had been there earlier. "C'mon, Tin Can, let's go find Concorde!"

Alex called the group Soul Rider (and Justin) chat as soon as she had service again.

"Lasagna boy, you're up," said Alex. "We're going to look for Concorde and we're not stopping until we find him."

"I was just thinking the same thing," said Justin. "And I think I know just where to start looking. Meet me at Moorland, gir- Alex and Jack. Sorry. Habit."

"I'll let it slide this time, horse boy," said Jack. "But only because we've got more important shit to worry about." He missed the days when he would've given Justin hell for that slip-up.

After an emotional father-son reunion at Moorland stables, Justin decided that asking after Loretta would be a good idea.

"Why?" asked Jack.

"Well, she did help bust me out of druid jail," said Justin.

"Okay, I get that, but Concorde. Finding him. Now," said Alex.

"Tan, have you seen Loretta?" said Justin, ignoring Jack and Alex in favour of talking to Tan. When Tan spoke, she sounded robotic.

"Loretta? Of course you'd be looking for her, Justin Moorland," said Tan, her eyes vaguely glassy. Maybe she'd been crying, her red-rimmed eyes certainly suggested that. "She went up to the fortune teller. At the circus. They all did. Even me. And the amazing Ydris told us things. Showed us things. He said that you and Loretta were destined to be together, Justin Moorland. Destined to lead the Bobcatz. Loretta and Justin Moorland. But why? How can that be true? I founded the club with Loretta, I've been everything to her, how can she just ditch me for you, Justin Moorland?"

"Me? But I- wuh- I have a girlfriend!" said Justin. "And how can I lead the Bobcatz, I'm a guy?"

"Anyone can be a girl, Justin Moorland," said Tan. Justin shook his head, but Jack was barely paying attention. His mouth had gone dry, his body numb.

"Ydris?" said Jack, looking at Tan. "What about him, what did he say? What's this about a fortune teller?"

"He told us things," said Tan. "Justin Moorland and Loretta are destined to rule the Bobcatz together."

"Maybe he was joking," said Jack, beginning to tremble. "Maybe... I have to talk to him!"

Turning Dale around, Jack fled up the hill to Nilmer's Highland, riding Dale as fast as he could go. But Justin stopped him at the top, causing Dale to rear and almost throw Jack off. Alex waited, having raced up there on Tin Can with Justin behind her.

"Jack, I know you're upset, but something weird might be going on," said Justin. "My Starbreed sense is really going crazy right now. I can feel Concorde, he's so close."

"Maybe you're just feeling the bond between Alex and Anne, I dunno, I just need to talk to my fiance," said Jack, trying to get past him.

"No, it's not," said Justin. "Close your eyes and tap into the Starbreed sense. If nothing else, it might calm you down."

"Fine," said Jack, squeezing his eyes shut and thinking of his bond with Dale. It was easy to do when Dale was trying to tell him to calm the hell down. When he opened his eyes, though, he thought he'd gone blind. It was so dark but for a magic circle on the ground a few steps in front of him.

"Can you see the trail?" asked Justin. Jack nodded. "Good. Follow it, and we'll find Concorde."

As he followed the magic circles, Jack's heart began to pound. Please don't be at the circus. Please don't be at the circus. He trembled, trying so hard not to cry. He could barely see the magic circles in front of him, but fortunately, Dale could see them just fine.

Jack closed his eyes when they reached the last magic circle. He could feel it now, too. There was a strong presence here. A presence that he'd always thought was just Ydris. God, he'd been so fucking stupid.

"He must be here somewhere," said Justin, climbing off of Dale. "Is he one of these pretty Lusitanos?" Jack shook his head as Justin walked over to speak to and pet the horses.

"No," said Jack, his voice small, broken. He dismounted Dale, barely able to make his feet move. One step. Two. Three. The cages. Jack closed his eyes, extended his Starbreed senses, and knew. The cage may be empty, but Concorde was there. No. No, no, no, it couldn't be, why did it have to be...

"Jack." He knew that voice so well, had heard it just a few hours ago.

"Why." Jack couldn't seem to stop staring at the magic circle inside the cage, the one that moved slightly as though it were alive. "Why did you have to... just why." He had to look at him. Maybe, if he did, he'd see remorse. Maybe his own distraught expression would make Ydris break. But Ydris only looked sad as he rotated his wrist.

"I did ask you not to pry," said Ydris. Before Jack could move, speak, do anything, there was a bright flash of pink and Jack felt himself moving.

Two faces looked down at him. One horse, one human. One very welcome, the other not.

"What did he do to you?" asked Justin, trying to help Jack to his feet. Jack swatted his hand away, walking over to the shimmering pink forcefield. It would be beautiful, if it weren't a reminder of Ydris' betrayal. Jack put his hand on it, ignoring the magic that tried to repel him. That burned his skin.

"What have you done?" Jack whispered, trembling, the tears already falling. He'd trusted him. Loved and trusted him so much that now, to have that so broken, thrown back at him, Jack couldn't do anything but close his eyes and cry, trembling.

"I always knew there was something off about this circus," Linda was saying, having arrived at some point. Jack tried to ignore her. Everything she said only made this worse, only made the hurt more unbearable.

"So he has Concorde?" Justin asked. Linda nodded.

"That just confirms it," said Linda, gesturing to the forcefield. Jack only saw this out of the corner of his eye, of course, too busy staring past the blinding pink towards the spot where his world had shattered and fallen apart. Of course the one good thing would actually turn out to be evil. Of course the most wonderful man in the world had his dark secrets. If it had just been working against the druids, that would've been fine. But no. Ydris was standing in the way of saving the world. He had been all this time. Without Concorde, there was no Anne. Without Anne, the Soul Riders couldn’t fight and defeat Dark Core. The world might be in danger, and Jack had been in love with the reason for it all this time. God, how could he be so stupid?

"Jack, we're going to talk to Pi, she might know something," said Justin. "Are you... up for that?" It was like a bright ray of light.

And so Jack rode with them, drying his eyes and galloping ahead on the way to Pi's swamp in Golden Hills Valley. Her news, unfortunately, was not good.

"Well, I can tell you this," said Pi. "He doesn't work with Dark Core."

"Maybe he was being controlled by them like you were?" asked Linda, voicing Jack's greatest hope. Pi shook her head, and Jack felt his heart sink.

"I was never being controlled by them," said Pi. "Gosh, no. Regardless, Ydris is his own entity. He's a very powerful sorcerer, using the greatest dark magic- untruth."

Lies. So all of it had been lies.

The potion that would enable them to see past untruths would take a while to be ready, so the others left to go elsewhere. Not Jack, though.

As day turned to night, Jack stood outside the glimmering forcefield, trying to see anything inside. Anything that would give him even the tiniest sliver of hope. Something to prove that Ydris wasn't as bad as everyone thought. But the evidence was piling up against him now, and Ydris wasn't talking.

Maybe they were right.


End file.
